Hello All,
As someone who is looking at applying to schools this year, I am looking for advice. There are many schools I love and am looking at, however I won’t be able to visit until if I get accepted. Therefore, I would like the advice of any who have applied/visited/attended these schools, as well as what they like in applicants and any advice they may have. Thank you in advance! These are the schools I’m looking at, and I love all of them, however, I obviously need to much narrow down my list.
SURELY APPLYING TO (Obviously majority are HIGH reach schools)
Andover
Exeter
Choate
Lawrenceville
Governor’s
Blair
Peddie
Stevenson
MOST LIKELY APPLYING TO (Still very high reach schools)
Cate
Loomis
MAYBE APPLYING TO (need more info - not determined if applying to)
Suffield
Kimball Union
Milton
Hotchkiss
Middlesex
seriously! Add Berkshire to the list. I am current student and I love it here so much! Amazing arts, academics, and athletics. Also a very tight knit community that offers some amazing and really unique programs
What factors/priorities led you to identify these schools in particular? Sharing what is important to you might help folks give you the input you are looking for. When my kid was creating and editing “the list”, there were “must have” and “nice to have” factors; and then after more research and visits the list was narrowed down based on the perceived strength of each school for the most important criteria. Since you are reapplying and considering so many schools, I would guess that getting into boarding school is very important to you. Good for you in casting a wide net! That said, I wish you success in narrowing the list. For my kid I think 7 was almost pushing it in terms of being able to produce the best possible application for each school; any more and there probably would have been a dilution of effort.
Hi @AppleNotFar thanks for the advice! I would say that it’s not as important to me to go to BS in general (though I would love to!) What’s important is to go to a BS I love. As “peddie” (lol pun) as it is, I would really love a beautiful campus. Living there for 4 years, I believe it’s important to live in an environment I’m very happy in. That being said, there hasn’t been 1 BS I’ve looked at that I haven’t loved the campus. I’m using a lot of the SAO, so the dilution issue will not be much of one. However, I’m trying to narrow it down to 10 schools! I also would like schools with great debate/humanities program (not an issue that eliminates many schools as they all have great programs) and where I can really be able to thrive in terms of political activism
Hotchkiss is known for its debate team and the Prep + Lower Mid (Freshman and Sophomore) integrated humanities program is unlike any other school’s that I’ve come across. It’s a beautiful spot too.
I second @Temperantia’s shout out for the Hotchkiss integrated humanities program. English, history, philosophy/religion, and the arts are taught in an integrated way for 9th and 10th grade. You have a different teacher for each class, but the teachers coordinate closely on what’s being taught in the other classes so that the students are able to make connections between the subjects. For instance, if you were studying the European Middle Ages in history, you might be reading the Merchant of Venice in English, and reading selections of the Bible in religion/philosophy (on the notion that the Bible was incredibly important to society at that time). The same group of kids takes each of those classes together, as a group, which allows the kids to bring the different disciplines into play in the discussion in each class (for instance, you’ll hear a student say in history class something like “this reminds me of how we were talking in English yesterday about the theme of the Merchant of Venice…”). Also, as a new student, having the same 10-12 kids in three of your classes provides a great way to really get to know them. As for the arts component of the program, you have a choice of drama, music, photography, studio art, or dance. This is considered part of the academic curriculum, not an extracurricular, which was a big part of my daughter’s decision to go there as at some other schools, there are great theater courses offered but it’s hard to get them into your schedule until you’re a junior or senior.
My DD is a 9th grader at Deerfield and its location, while rural, is really nice. When she was developing her “pros and cons” list both before applying and after acceptances, there were definitely must haves such as academics and availability of her particular sport/instrument, but surprisingly after acceptances, things like formal vs. informal dress and the type of dining situation played a role in her decision.
I suggest you focus your list category first on the visit/interview as I bet you will cross some of them off your apply list (that was at least the case for our process). One admissions person suggested that applying to six schools is a good number with a couple reaches, matches, and safeties (if there’s such a thing). My daughter applied to seven as we had a fairly local school to add to the mix.
@MAandMEmom I sadly won’t be able to visit any schools - but if I am so lucky to be accepted to any I will visit and then I think those seemingly trivial things will come into play. However, this weekend I will do an official IvyDreamer Pro/Con List and narrow down the schools
Definitely apply to a healthy number, then hope for the best. My daughter’s friend applied to 10 boarding schools and ended up on 10 wait lists. You never know. Story ended well however, she went to a top day school in NYC, and is now at Cornell!
You may want to read the official Handbook for each school. Look at how each one handles rules/discipline etc. Also try to get your hands on a copy of the student newspaper (some are online) - we found these to be very helpful in terms of understanding the “vibe” of a school. Pay close attention to the graduation requirements & course prerequisites (totally agree with @soxmom re: arts as an academic course - schools vary widely in this). There are subtle differences between the schools in each of these areas that may end up being important to you.
And last (but not least!) here is my plug for Cate: if you want a school with a strong interdisciplinary Humanities program, beautiful campus, super-smart and NICE kids, Cate should be in your “Surely Applying To” category!
I am a current Berkshire student and it sounds like it could be a good fit! I don’t know if you have already thought about it/toured or interviewed, but feel free to pm with any questions about the school or their admission system.
